Helius Aurum Tonearm!

[Oldpinkman]

Helius aurum was the mid arm from helius when i were a nipper (mid 80s). Better than their basic arm it was bettered by the gorgeous, if somewhat temperamental helius orion. I would be surprised if you like it better than your 774, which is extremely competent. It suits mc cartridges well having reasonable effective mass. Makes me a bit nostalgic for the orion though. Pt, orion, u205 was my reference system for dems.

[walpurgis]

We'll see. I expect I'll get round to trying it out shortly. It looks as though it should fit straight onto a TD160B Mk.II I recently bought as second TT. Never had either item before. I had a few TD150s years ago though.

[daytona600]

remove the crappy plastic body on the 103 & replace with a metal or wood body then a good re-tip and your off

[DSJR]

Helius arms generally seem to be on the lively side and if you like this, the 774 may appear a little dry or over-damped in nature. Horses for courses, but the 774 may well be the actual 'better' one, even if you may prefer the other...

[Rare Bird]

Ive only ever had one Helius arm that was an 'Orion'. very heavy arm that.

[Oldpinkman]

Ive only ever had one Helius arm that was an 'Orion'. very heavy arm that.

The orion was heavy, at the bearing block (so needed no add weight on a pt armboard) but medium effective mass. Interesting bearings, beautiful finish, my favourite once (vacilated between this and sme5 but my all-time best system had the orion) - with the much-mourned u205 of course...
I thought they were lost forever until a man in newhaven revealed he had one on a shelf. Before I could work out how to blackmail it out of him, he fitted an even better arm for me and, whilst I'd have a nostalgic curiosity if I could find a u205, I lost interest.

[walpurgis]

remove the crappy plastic body on the 103 & replace with a metal or wood body then a good re-tip and your off

No way would I spend money trying to 'improve' a basic DL-103. The design is limited and I have better cartridges that don't need upgrading anyway.

[daytona600]

I thought the 103 supplied with the Arm last old & on its way out , just giving some advice to get it back on its feet

[walpurgis]

I thought the 103 supplied with the Arm last old & on its way out , just giving some advice to get it back on its feet

I haven't tried the 103 yet, away on holiday at the moment. It's supposed to be in usable order. I'll check it out properly and give it a whirl when I get back, but I've owned these before, so I'm not expecting miracles. They are pleasant enough though.